The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-01-06
REV, DIR. TALMAGE.
THE DRooKLYN DIvINE's SUN.
DAY SL.RMON.
Subject of DISCOURSE: ION Trial.


FGther Jesus Christ the righteous. VI
John H., |.
Standing in courtroom you say to your.
salf: "At this bar crime has often been ar.
raignet at this witness stand the oath has
often been taken; at this jtrors beuch the
verdict has been rendered; at this Judges
desk senteace has been pronouncej.n But I
have t. tell you to-day of trial higher than
any Oyer anil Ter.pircr or Circuit or Su-
preme or Chan cry II is the trial Of every
christian man for the life of his soul This
trial is different from any other in the fact
That IT Is both civil and criminal The issiies
at stake are tremendous, end shall in my
sermon show you, first, what are the grounds
OF complaint; then, who are the witnesses in
tho oauss, and lastly, who are the advocates. ).
When trial is called on. the first thing is
to have the indictment read, Stand up then,
. Ch istian men, and hear the Indictment
OF the court OF high heaven against thy sonl
IL is an indictment of ten counts, for thou
has directly or indirectly broken all the ten
commandments. You know how it thun.
dered on Sinai, and when God came down
how tho mountain rocked and the smoke as
cended as from sn,ouldering furnace and the
darkness gathered thick and the loud deep
trumpet uttered the words. 1.-THE soul that
sinneth, it shall dieln Are you guilty or not
guilty! Do not put in negative plea too
quick, for have to announce that "all have
slnned and come short ofNthe glory of God
There is none that doeth good no, not one
Whose yer shall Keep the whole law, vet of:
feni in one point, he is guilty of ALL Do
not. tn reiore, be too hasty in pronouncing
yoGrSelf not guilty
This lawsuit before us also charges you
with the breaking of solemn contra t.
Many timo did We promise to be the
Lords. We got down on our knees and said
20 Lord, l am thnr now and forever, -
Did you keep the promise! Have you stood
up to the contract: | go back to your first
communion You remember it as well as if
it were yesterday. You know how the Wis
ion of the cross rose before you You re-
member how from the head and the han Is
and the side and the feet, there came bleed-
Ing forth these two words: "Remember
Me" You recall how the cup of communion
trembied in your hand when you first took
1T; and a' in sca-shell you may haar, or
think you hear, the roaring of the surf even
after the shell has been taken from the
beach, so YOU lifted the cup of
communion and you heard in it
tho surgng of the great oIean of
saviour's agony; and you came forth from
that communion service with face shining as
though YOU had been on the Mount of Trans
hguration; AMI the very air seemed tremu-
lous with the love Of Jesus, and the woods
and the leaves and the e. ass and the birds
were brighter and sweeter- voiced than ever
before, aud you said down in the very depths
OF your soul: Lord, Thou knowest all
things; Thou knowest that love Thee. y
Have you kept the bargain, o Christian
man! Have you not sometimes faltered
when you ought to have been truel Rave YOU
not been proud when you ought to have been
humble' Have you not played the coward
when you ought to have been the hsrSi /
charge it upon you and charge it upon my
self-we have broken the contract.
Still further; this law suit claims damages
at your hands. The create Sian ler on the
Christian religion is IN inconsistent profess
sor. The Bible says religion is one thing
we by our inconSs ency say religion is some
other thing, and what is more deplornbe
about it is that people can sea faults OF others
While they cannot see any in themselves. If
you shall at any time find SOME mi ,erable old
gossip. with imperfectioni from the crown
of her head to the sole of her foot, perfect
biotch of sin herself, she will go tattling, tat
tling, tattling all the years of her life alb ut
the inconsistencies of others, having no idea
that she is inconsistent herself God save the
world from the gossip, female and male
think the males are the worst. Now the
chariot of Christ's salvation goes on through
the world; but it is OF inconsistencies,
my brethren, that block up the wheels, while
all along the line there ought to have been
cast nothing but palm branches, and the
shout should have been lifted: ''Hosanna
10 the son of David"
Now you have heard the indictment read.
Are you ready to plead guilty OF moi
yuiItyf Perhaps you are not ready yet tc
plead. Then the trial will go on. The wit
nesses will be called and we shall have the
matter decided. In the name of God | now
make proclamation. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez
Whosoever hath anything to offer in thi
tr al, in which God is the rlnintilf and tht
Christian soul the defendont, let him now
step forth and give testimony in this solemn
trial
The first witness that call UP IN the stand
in behalf of the prosecution is the worlds al
criti, al and observant of Christian character
You know that there are Ieoplc around vol
who perpetually banquet on the frailties O
Gods children. You may know, if you hay,
lived in the country, that crow cares fol
nothing SO much as carron. There are thos
who imagine that oat of the faults of Chrii
tiaus they can make bridge Of boats acros
the stream of death, and they are oing t.
try it, but, a'as, for the mistake! When the,
get amid stream away will 60 the bridge
and down will 60 their souls to Ier
dition. Q world OF the greedy eye anC
the. hard heart, come on the stand nov
and testify in behalf of the prosecution
against this Christian soul on trial Wha
A.S
"Oh," SAYS the world, 81 know great deal
about him. He talks about putting his treas.
ures in heaven. but he is the sharpest man in
trade ever knew. Heseems to want us to
believe that he is a child of God, but he is
Just full Of imperfectons. do not know
but am great deal better than he is now.
Oftentimes he is very earthly, and he talks SO
little about Christ and SO much about him
self. am very glad to testify that this is a
bad man."
Stop, o World with the greedy eye and
hard heart l fear you are too much inter.
ested in this trial TO give impartial evidence.
Let all those who hear the testimony of this
witness know that there is an old family
quarrel between these two parties. There
always has been a variance between the
world and the church. and while the world
on the witness stand to-day has told q great
deal OF truth about this Christian man, you
must take it all with some allowance, re-
membering that they still keep the old
grudge good. 0 World of the greedy eye
and the hard heart, that will do. You may
sit down.
The second witness call in this case Is
Conscience. Who art thou, o Cousciencei
What Is your business Where were you
born What are you doing here "Oh,'
says Conscience, II was born in heaven:
came down to befriend this man; have lived
with him, have instructed him. | have
warned him. showed him the right and
the wrong, advising him to take the one and
eschew the other; have kindlel grea,
light in his soul; with a whip of scorpions
have scourgei his wickedness and
have tried to cheer him when doing
right; and yet l am compelled tc
testify on the stand to-day that he has
sometimes rejected my mission. Oh, how
many cups Of life have pressed to his lips
tfat he dashed down. and how often has he
stood with his hard heel on the bleeding
heart of the Son of God 1t pains me very
much that / have TO testify against this
Christian man, and yet must, in behalf of
Him who will in no wise clear the guilty, saw
that this Christian man has done wrong. He
has been worldly. He has been neglectful.
He has done thouSan things he ought not
to have done and left undone a thousand
things he ought to have done" That will do,
Conscience. You eau sit down.
The third witness I call in the case Is an
ange. If Col. Bright and shining one what
doest chou here. What hast thou to saw
against this man on trial. "Oh." saws the
angel, II have been a messenger to him and
have guarded him ! have watched him.
With this wing defended him, and often
times when he knew il net led him into the
green pastures AMI beside .hc still waters.
snatehed from him the poisoned chal
ices When bad spirits came upon
him to destroy him. / fought them
ba k with infinite fierceness; and vet
have to testify to-day that he has reieetct
NV mission Ha har NOT doua a 9 ha ouuht "